Madhu Knits and Cooks

Vegan Pho - Surprisingly Easy and Delicious Complete Meal

We ordered our first pho delivery of the pandemic several weeks ago, which reignited my desire to make vegan pho at home.  I've been quietly planning for this moment for years, with star anise in the pantry and dried rice noodles at the ready.  But whenever I've thought about actually making vegan pho, I've rejected what I thought would be a too-consuming effort to produce a quality meal.

Of course, the punch line is that making top-quality vegan pho at home couldn't be easier.  You don't need to simmer the broth for too long (30 minutes before adding the vegetables and noodles) thanks to charring ginger and onion in broiler beforehand to achieve deep flavor.

The final broth is umami-rich and deeply sweetly spiced, with almost caramel notes, and contrasts nicely with the fresh cilantro, scallions, and chile.  Thanks to two online recipes - Gimme Some Oven and Cookies and Kate - for providing basic guidance and inspiration for my personalized, mushroom-free approach.

Ingredients

(2-3 main course servings)

• 1/2 red onion, halved
• 1.5 inch piece of ginger, cut into 3-4 large chunks
• 1 star anise
• 2 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tbsp. Better than Bouillon No Chicken Base
• 1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
• Splash of rice vinegar
• ~8-10 Baby bok choy, cleaned and halved, or greens desired
• 1/2 package dried rice noodles, prepared via package directions (I soaked in hot water for 30 minutes while the soup broth simmered)
• Diced scallions, cilantro, green chile, or other toppings (e.g., Thai basil, sprouts) to taste
• Lime wedges for serving

Directions

• Pre-heat broiler on high, and place halved red onion and ginger on baking sheet.  Broil on high for 8 minutes approx. 4 inches from broiler, turning once halfway
• In a soup pot or dutch oven, dry toast the star anise, cloves and cinnamon for 3 minutes on medium-high heat or until fragrant
• Add 6 cupes water, charred onion and ginger, Better than Bouillon, and tamari, and bring to a boil
• Reduce heat to medium and simmer broth for 30 minutes
• Remove the spices, ginger, and onions from the broth, and add a splash of rice vinegar and the halved baby bok choy.  Cook for 3 minutes, then add noodles for another 2 - 4 minutes.
• Served immediately with scallions, cilantro, chile, and lime wedges

Updated Favorite Homemade Vegetable Noodle Soup - with Potatoes and Kale

With some leftover potatoes and kale in the fridge, I decided to do the easiest thing I could think of - throw them in a soup!  

I used my favorite vegetarian noodle soup recipe, and added the cubed potatoes in for 9 minutes to fully cook while the ripped kale only took a few minutes.  Both were fantastic additions to the soup, with the kale in particular really adding to satisfying meal.  Look forward to adding these again to my future soups!

Creamy Spiced Cranberry Beans - Great Hands-Off Meal Side or Taco Filling

After my last cranberry bean debacle, I set out to make a better version of these well-loved beans.  I started with ATK's Cranberry Beans with Tequila, Green Chiles, and Pepitas recipe, though I made some simplifications along the way.  

First, I halved the recipe.  Second, I omitted the sour cream, pepitas, and pickled shallots topping.  Third, I cooked the beans for about 50-60 minutes, which while less than the 75 minutes called for in the recipe, was still a little too long for the halved beans.  So maybe 40 - 45 minutes is better moving forward?  

The result though was fantastic - extra creamy beans, lightly spiced, and a great filling for tacos.  These would also be a great side to any meal.  I look forward to making these largely hands-off beans again and again.

(doesn't look good, but tastes great!)

Unique Whole Baked Cauliflower that Tastes Like Falafel

Whole baked cauliflowers - they are a thing!  This next attempt from Milk Street, the Cauliflower with Spiced Tahini and Garlic-Chili Oil, definitely was the opposite of the lightly flavored Miznon whole cauliflower.  This cauliflower burst with strong dried spice (cumin, cinnamon, sumac, cardamon) flavors, bright parsley, and an olive oil / tomato glaze of sorts.  And I omitted the pine nuts, which probably would have added another strong flavor!

In all, my husband said this cauliflower almost tasted like falafel, which seems fairly accurate with the deep, dried Middle Eastern spice flavor.  I would make this again for a crowd, but would need to pair it with carefully picked sides as this definitely is a distinct flavor explosion.  

Cooking note:  The cauliflower was 1.6 pounds and I cooked it for 40 minutes in a more tight foil wrap, and it baked up fine!

Miznon's Whole Cauliflower - Easier than Expected Cauliflower Treat!

A few months ago, my friends Jenny and Dave made the famed Miznon whole roasted cauliflower at home and raved about the results.  One of my biggest pandemic regrets is that I kept pushing off our trip to the NYC Miznon location (last reservation I made and cancelled was for March 13, 2020), so I have yet to try this cauliflower sensation (let alone their other delish vegetarian options!).

Hearing that I could try this dish at home - and that it wasn't difficult - inspired me to look for smaller cauliflower heads that may work with their recipe.  Unfortunately though, our grocery store generally seems to have gigantic cauliflower heads so months passed before I found what seemed to be a sufficiently manageable cauliflower size.

While it took me awhile to figure out the logistics of how to boil the cauliflower (watching the Food & Wine video would have helped!), I ended up using a colander instead of a ceramic plate to keep the cauliflower submerged.  I also substituted kosher salt for the sel gris to fit what I had on hand.

After draining and baking the cauliflower, it wasn't as browned as I liked so I turned on the broiler for 2 minutes which some other websites recommended.  That worked great to get the dark browning throughout the cauliflower head and also made up for my not-quite-even cauliflower base, which meant the cauliflower fell over during baking instead of remaining head up.

While I served the cauliflower with tahini, we didn't quite like the combination (might have also been that our tahini isn't the highest quality) so I may make another sauce for this in the future.  I otherwise though loved this well-salted, soft, and lightly oiled cauliflower.  I look forward to making it again as a great side or meal centerpiece.

My First Couscous - A Bland Disappointment

Last year, I had a perfectly spiced Moroccan vegetable and couscous dish at a restaurant in Minnesota.  Tangy, sweet, and rich with multiple flavors from herbs and the individual vegetables.  And the couscous - what a great grain complement.  

I have never made couscous at home, but inspired by this meal memory, I decided to try my hand at it.  And as I do, I turned to Cook's Illustrated first for recipe ideas and settled on their Moroccan Chickpea and Vegetable Couscous recipe.

Unfortunately, as the post title suggests, I was underwhelmed by this couscous as it tasted quite bland.  Chickpeas, peas, carrots and couscous.  Nothing more, nothing less.  The fresh and dried herbs didn't really come through, and while extra lime juice helped, it still didn't do much.  Oh well, at least I tried couscous! 

And most important, I learned that you don't need to cook couscous on the stovetop, rather just pour boiling water / broth over the dried couscous (toasted in this case), cover, and let the hot liquid "cook" the couscous for several minutes.  Hopefully, I find a better recipe for my next couscous attempt!

Milk Street Black-Eyed Pea Fritters - An Easy Party Snack

I've been eating a lot of black-eyed peas this past year, mostly in tacos.  I really like these flavorful, versatile beans which are also a cinch to prepare with their short cooking time.  When I recently saw Milk Street's West African Black-Eyed Pea Fritters, I thought these would be a logical extension of my new black-eyed pea love.  

These fritters couldn't have been easier to make - no bean cooking required - and the final result was good, though not great.  The fritters tasted like what you'd expect a fried black eyed-pea snack to taste like, nothing more, nothing less.    

While I am not sure if I will make these treats again, I did enjoy the crunchy exterior coupled with the moist and soft interior and the subtle black-eyed pea flavor.  

The fritter batter starts by soaking the beans before throwing them in a food processor.

Then stir in the other herbs to make the final batter.  Finish by dropping spoonfuls into the 350 degree oil. 

Three modifications I made to the Milk Street recipe:  I inadvertently soaked the peas for 27 hours, I halved the recipe, and I subbed jalapenos or serranos for the fresnos, which generally aren't available in our store.  The final fritters also required a fair amount of extra salt for the bean and chile flavors really come out.

A Mostly Instant Pot Rasam - A MadhuKnitsandCooks.com Success!

Rasam is a simple spiced South Indian vegan soup or broth.  It's one of my favorite accompaniments to Indian meals, though I haven't made it in some time.  Emboldened by our first trip to the local Indian grocery store in 6 months, I decided to try a more substantive rasam than my previous efforts.  

I turned to Saranya Mandava's Indian Cuisine cookbook, and decided to go with her "Rasam No. 2" recipe with a few modifications from my mother and utilizing the Everest rasam powder I purchased.  

The final result was excellent - perfectly spiced from the mustard seeds and rasam powder; tangy from the tomatoes and lemon juice; and substantive from the mashed moong dal.  I will be making this rasam recipe again and again!

And the best part?  Using the Instant Pot for most of the dish, which freed up the rest of my stovetop for other dishes I was preparing at the same time. 

My main recipe modifications were to cook the moong dal for 10 minutes on low pressure in the Instant Pot before mashing; using 2 tsp. of rasam powder, which I added to the rasam with the tomatoes; and omitting the grinding of the spices that had been tempered on the stovetop.  I instead just added them directly to the pot after cooking them on the stovetop in a small pan.

I also added 5 curry leaves, which I ripped in half, to the tempering spices, and I omitted the fenugreek seeds to the tadka because I couldn't find them in my pantry (did I throw them away?).  Finally, I used approx. juice from 1/4 lemon, which seemed to be enough.

A Fantastic Upma (Thanks Mom) - A Hearty Spiced Semolina Breakfast

Upma is a savory and hearty Indian breakfast dish, usually made with roasted dry semolina though I have made variants with quinoa and steel cut oats.  As it turns out, sometimes sticking to the original can produce the best results as my recent effort with ground semolina or sooji found.

I purchased the sooji, roasted so I didn't need to roast it at home, at our local Patel Brothers.  I followed Saranya Mandava's cookbook recipe with a few critical modifications from my mother.  

First was that I added fresh curry leaves (maybe 7 -8), which I ripped in half, to the cooking vegetables.  Second, I slightly reduced the oil to 5 - 6 tablespoons.  Third, I added the ginger toward the end of the onion / tomato / chile cooking time so that it wouldn't burn as the others cooked.

I also increased the salt to 1.25 tsp. and the water to 3 cups instead of the 1.5 - 2 called for in the recipe (semolina stayed the same at 1 cup).

Finally, after the semolina fully cooked after 3 - 4 minutes, I took the pan off the heat, stirred in juice from 1/4 fresh lemon and some diced cilantro.  I then let the upma stay covered for approx. 5 minutes before serving.

This finished upma was quickly consumed in our home.  The mixture was well-spiced from the mustard seeds and dals; tart from the lemon, tomato, and cilantro; slightly sweet from the ginger and semolina; and featured the unique deep flavor of the curry leaves.  Yum!

Brined Crispy Tofu - A Laborious But Delicious Tofu Preparation Method

For several months, I've wanted to try Cook's Illustrated "Better Fried Tofu" approach.  The method calls for brining raw tofu before tossing it in cornstarch for the lower fat pan-frying approach I enjoy.  CI reported that brining takes out more moisture from the tofu blocks, resulting in a crispier crust with a softer middle.

I paired this method with another CI recipe, published under their America's Test Kitchen brand.  The Crispy Tofu with Sweet Chili Sauce (Tianla Cuipi Doufu) recipe worked really well with the brining modification as it just added a bit more time to the recipe prep.  

I cut the tofu as instructed into large blocks to do the quick brining.

I then cut the pieces into smaller increments (approx. 3/4 inch cubes) before the coating in cornstarch, cornmeal, and some toasted sesame seeds that I happened to have on as well.  

I pan fried the tofu in two batches, using about 1/2 of the vegetable oil called for in the recipe.  That seemed to be enough - approx. 1/4 cup for the initial batch and then a few more tablespoons for the second batch.

And then before serving, I followed the instruction to put the tofu into a preheated, slightly warm oven on paper towels to get some of the oil out.

Finally, I made some modifications to the accompanying sauce based on personal preference and the comments section on the ATK site.  I used only 1 tbsp. of sugar and I slightly reduced the cornstarch as well.

The sauce had both a sharp vinegar flavor and a sweet undertone, making it slightly odd for dipping. 

The tofu by contrast was fantastic - crisp and slightly crunchy from the cornmeal coating, with a nice moist interior.  It was a great appetizer before our larger meal. 

I look forward to using this tofu approach again and again, and figuring out new ways to pair it with other meals!